Uranus

Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun. It was the first planet discovered by telescope. William Herschel discovered the planet in 1781. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet in our solar system and spins on its side.

Uranus appears a blue green world as a thick mix of hydrogen and methane covers its atmosphere. The methane causes the planet's blue green color. Astronomers believe that Uranus is covered with a mass of ice and some sort of rocky material.

Uranus is approximately a distance of 1.7 billion miles from the sun. Uranus is approximately 32,000 miles in diameter as well as 7926 miles long. Uranus moves around the sun with its rotation axis is perpendicular to its orbit around the sun. It is thought that it may be off kilter because a planet sized body hit Uranus early in its history and tipped it over. Seasons in Uranus last over 20 years.

Uranus has 27 moons. Each of the moons have been named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Uranus itself was named after the Greek god of the sky Ouranos the earliest of the lords of the heavens. It is the only planet to be named after a Greek god rather than a Roman one. Other names including Hypercronius, Minerva and Hershel were all proposed all of these names were also related to mythology.